As many as 200 people are feared drowned in the Red Sea following the sinking of a boat carrying migrant workers to Saudi Arabia.

Sudanese media reports the vessel went down off the coast, with only three survivors pulled from the water.

The Sudanese Media Centre, a state-linked news agency, said these survivors were being treated in a hospital near Atiaba, where the incident took place.

Fire was reported on board before the vessel – which had been attempting to smuggle people into Saudi Arabia – went down.

Most of those believed to have been involved are from Chad, Nigeria, Somalia, and Eritrea.

Four Yemenis who allegedly owned the boat had been arrested in Port Sudan state.

A second attempt to smuggle 247 migrants, mostly from Chad, Nigeria, Somalia and Eritrea, was also uncovered in the same state, the report said, without elaborating.

Last month, 150 people drowned when a ship carrying some 850 migrants fleeing the conflict in Libya capsized off Tunisia.